ROBERT BARNARD – A Little Local Murder. Charles Scribner’s Sons, US, hardcover, 1983. Collins Crime Club, UK, hc, 1976. US paperback reprints: Dell, March 1984, Scene of the Crime Mystery#70; Foul Play Press, 1995.

   I can’t prove there are more characters living in small British villages than elsewhere in the world, but reading mystery fiction makes me suspect so. Certainly Robert Barnard’s A Little Local Murder , recently reprinted in paperback by Dell, adds weight to that belief.

   Barnard gives us a village called “Twytching” and a devastatingly funny picture of its local residents. A British radio station has come to Twytching to do a documentary broadcast, and they let some skeletons out of the closet, bringing out the worst in people — and causing murder.

   Showing another side to his writing, Barnard makes us care quite a bit about the murder victim. This is close to Barnard at his best, and that is very good indeed.